Who Are the Foreign Envoys Attending the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony?

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol will meet with high-ranking diplomatic envoys from various countries on the 10th. Attention is focused on the diplomatic movements of the four major powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula? the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia?who are sending congratulatory delegations for his inauguration.

After the inauguration ceremony, President-elect Yoon is scheduled to meet sequentially with Douglas Emhoff, the U.S. ‘Second Gentleman’ leading the American delegation visiting Korea, Wang Qishan, Vice President of China, and Hayashi Yoshimasa, Japan’s Foreign Minister. However, the order of meetings with the U.S., China, and Japan delegations has not yet been disclosed.

From the U.S., Emhoff, the lawyer and husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, arrived in Korea on the 9th leading the delegation. Traditionally, the U.S. Secretary of State or the White House National Security Advisor attends presidential inaugurations, but considering the imminent South Korea-U.S. summit, the U.S. is believed to have sent a figure symbolizing the ‘White House family.’

Wang Qishan, attending as a special envoy of President Xi Jinping, is the highest-ranking Chinese official to attend a Korean presidential inauguration to date. China is expected to emphasize the importance of China-South Korea relations ahead of the South Korea-U.S. summit by dispatching Wang, who is regarded as President Xi’s trusted ‘right-hand man.’

Japan’s special envoy, Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, will attend. It is the first time in about four years since June 2018 that Japan’s top diplomat visits Korea. Foreign Minister Hayashi is scheduled to stay in Korea for two days starting on the inauguration day, and an individual meeting with President-elect Yoon is expected on that day. It is anticipated that he will deliver a congratulatory letter from Prime Minister Kishida at this meeting.

In Japan, former Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio, known as a ‘pro-Korea’ figure, will also visit Korea and meet with President-elect Yoon on the afternoon of the 9th, before the inauguration.

From Russia, no separate diplomatic envoy will visit, but Andrey Kulik, the Russian Ambassador to Korea, is expected to attend. This is believed to be due to the deterioration of Korea-Russia relations following the invasion of Ukraine.

Additionally, Amanda Milling, UK Minister of State, Halimah Yacob, President of Singapore, and Faustin-Archange Touad?ra, President of the Central African Republic, will attend. President-elect Yoon is expected to begin active summit diplomacy through meetings with them.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.